The Romance of Norwalk

proud and that is Cockenoe. He it was, a converted Indian, who taught John Elliot, the great Indian apostle, the red- man’s tongue. With his help Elliot translated the ten com¬ mandments and large portions of the Bible into their lan¬ guage. Of Cockenoe, William Wallace Tooker, author, says : “For the part he took in the rise and development of our settlement, a life work unparalleled by that of any other Long Island or New England Indian, he deserves to be en¬ rolled upon the page of honor. A scarred and battered frag¬ ment from Nature’s world, a glacial boulder, typical of the past, should be his monument, on one side a sculptured en¬ tablature inscribed: “ ‘To the memory of a captive in the Pequot War, the first Indian teacher of John Elliot, a firm friend of the Eng¬ lish colonists, Cockenoe-de-Long-Island.’ ” FIRST MEETING HOUSE The first mention of a meeting house in the town records occurred May 22, 1655, when the townsmen were instructed “to procuer nayles, with all speed, for the meeting house, and at as reasonable rate as they can, — Towne’s account.” Proof that our Norwalk forefathers did not live in any “fast modern age” is evidenced by the fact that not until nearly four years later in 1659, was the meeting house mentioned again. What happened to the “nayles” in the meantime, we have no idea. January 3, 1659, it was finally decided to build the house. This first meeting house was a very rude structure. It was evidently of logs, 30 feet long and 18 feet wide and not even shell plastered inside. There was probably but one window, judging from the record of 1660 wherein the townspeople decided to “claboard the meetinghouse with inside so hy as the window.” That one light aperture was placed on the op¬ posite side from the habitations of the Indians, to guard GROWTH OF TOWN 67 against the encouragement of any stray arrows through the window. In the beginning, the structure was used for both town gatherings and for religious sessions. There was no church bell, but in 1665 Walter Haite was engaged to beat the drum for meetings, for which he was to receive ten shillings. The drummer who followed Walter Haite, Robert Stewart, son of one of the richest men in town, was given the “drumb” for his services. Thomas Benedict was to have 20 shillings for keeping the meeting house “swept for the yeere ensuing.” Inside, were bare benches without backs. The men sat on one side, the women on the other, while the children re¬ mained in the rear. There was no heat in the church, even when the temperature was below zero, and church sessions were usually from three to five hours in length. Since the settlers had neither newspapers, books, nor lecturers, they must needs get their education in the church. Coming marriages were announced by the pastor in the church or meeting house one or two Sundays before the event was scheduled. The interested parties stayed away, but others felt it proper not only to be present but to stand for the announcements. After our Norwalk minister had read the intentions at the close of the service he very carefully went outside and pasted said intentions on the church door, that all might see. It is a curious fact, that although it was the clergyman’s duty to read the intentions of marriage and proclaim same to the world, he was not asked to officiate at the wedding, at least in the early days. It was not until the beginning of the 1 8th century that the pastor married mem¬ bers of his flock. The town clerk usually officiated and we presume that Norwalk followed this custom. Sermons, three and four hours in length, both morning and afternoon were the rule in the early Norwalk church. When one stops to think that children were required to at¬ tend all services, unless prevented from doing so by serious illness, and were scarcely allowed to move during the lengthy discourses, it is no wonder that from time to time the church 68 ROMANCE OF NORWALK wardens complained of trouble with “ye restless boys and girls.” To such an extent were the youngsters mischievous that it was found necessary on several occasions to take up the subject in town meetings with resultant rules. In 1668, Thomas Lupton was chosen “to look after the young people in the meting house on the Lord’s day and to doe his best indevor to kepe them from playing and unsivill behaviour in time of publik worship.” In 1681, Thomas Barnum took over the duties, “to oversee and to keep good Decorum amongst the youth in times of exercise on the Sab¬ bath and other Publique meetings; and the Towne doe im- power him if he see any disorderly, for to keep a small stick to correct such with; oneley he is desired to doe it with clem¬ ency; and if any are incoridgable in such disorder, he is to present them either to their parents or masters; and if they do not reclaime them, then to present such to authority.” What was the fate of the young culprits who fell into the hands of such authority? Under Roger Ludlow’s code, they might be put into the house of correction, subject to “hard labor and severe punishment”; or if sixteen years of age, they might fall under the death penalty of the Mosaic code. In such firm handed manner did the elders treat their youth. They treated themselves just as harshly and so one can hardly wonder that they drank tobacco. They needed some sort of stimulation and pleasure to compensate them for some of the many rigorous laws of all kinds that continu¬ ally forced them along the straight and narrow path. Yet they couldn’t even drink the sort of tobacco they desired, for an early law decreed that: “It is ordered that what person or persons within this jurisdiction shall after September, 1641, drink any other tobacco but such as is or shall be planted within these libertyes, shall forfeit for every pound so spent, five shillings, except they have license from the Court.” BARNUM ANCESTOR HERE Thomas Barnum, mentioned a few paragraphs back, first appears in the town records under date of 1681 when he was GROWTH OF TOWN 69 ordered to “keep good decorum among the youth,” in the church. This very same Barnum is thought to have been the ancestor of all the Barnums in America, including the re¬ nowned Phineas T. Barnum of Bridgeport, known all over the world for his circus. That Barnum came of excellent family is the belief of His¬ torian Sellick who says that he sprang from (son or grand¬ son of) Sir Martin and Judith (Calthorpe) Barnham; that his mother or grandmother was the daughter of Sir Martin Calthorpe, Lord Mayor of London; that Sir Francis Barn- ham, Knight of Hollingbourne was either his step-brother or his own uncle and that the wife of Francis Bacon, (Lord Bacon), Great Lord Chancellor and Viscount, was, if not his first, at least his second cousin. It would seem that his exact generation from Sir Barnham must have been second rather than first. Had he been the son, he would have been 72 years old when appointed disciplinarian in the Norwalk church. Barnum sr., came to this section in 1663. He was a mar¬ ried man at the time and Thomas, the second, was born on July 9 of the same year. During the 21 years spent in Nor¬ walk, ten children were born to Thomas Barnum, Sr. ; Thomas 2nd, Francis, Richard, John, Ebenezer, Hannah and four other daughters. Why did Barnum come to America in the first place ? That is a hard question to answer. He was not very prominent in the little Norwalk settlement, at least in town affairs, his two chief occupations having been keeping the children quiet in church and capturing wolves. Although Barnum spent the greater part of his time in Norwalk, in his home at the foot of Strawberry hill, he also kept up his residence in Fairfield where he owned some land. In 1684, he and his family removed to Danbury. Barnum, Sr., was one of the founders of that settlement. The following will perhaps make clear, the relation of the Norwalk Barnum to the famous “P. T.” : Generation one, Thomas Barnum Sr., of Norwalk. 70 ROMANCE OF NORWALK Generation two, Thomas 2nd, married to Sarah Beardsley. Generation three, Ephraim ist, and Mehitable Barnum. Generation four, Ephraim 2nd, and Keziah Covill Barnum Generation five, Joseph Barnum first, born Aug. 14, 1761. Joseph Barnum, first, was half brother of Philo Barnum, born April 4, 1778, who was the father of the Hon. P. T. Barnum of Bethel and Bridgeport, born July 5, 1810. It is interesting to think that Norwalk blood went into the founding of that internationally famous circus. BOUNDARY DISPUTES Chapter VII Norwalk and Fairfield Squabble Over Strip of Land — Quar¬ rel With Stamford over Five Mile River Territory — Con¬ necticut and New York War for Two Hundred Years Over Land on Which Norwalk Stands. Three distinct boundary disputes, one of which threat¬ ened to take Norwalk from the state of Connecticut and to hand it over to New York state jurisdiction, occupied the attention of the settlers during the third quarter of the 17th century. All three of the disputes, the Norwalk-Fairfield argument, the Norwalk-Stamford squabble and the Connec¬ ticut-New York trouble, dragged on for an interminable number of years until at times it seemed that Norwalk would never be definitely nor permanently defined. First mention of the Norwalk-Fairfield dispute occurs in the town records in 1664. In 1670 the matter again came before the house; and in 1687, the two towns were still arguing, coming to no settlement until the beginning of the 1 8th century. The Norwalk-Stamford row first appears in the records in 1666; recurs in 1668 and again figures in the town records in 1670. As for the fight between the states of Connecticut and New York over the ownership of a small strip of land between the two, that battle commenced in 1 650 and was not ended till 1879. DISPUTE WITH FAIRFIELD The dispute between Norwalk and Fairfield really had its beginning in 1650 when Fairfield was given by the Gen¬ eral Court the following permission: “doe grant unto said 7i 72 ROMANCE OF NORWALK towne of Fairefield said parcell of land to Sagatuck river provided the said Sagatuck doe not exceed two myles from the bounds of the said Fairefield.”